Published in the Asbury Park Press 08/23/05BY MIKE KERWICKSTAFF WRITERPatrik Elias will play one more season with the Devils. After that, maybe he follows Scott Niedermayer out the door.

Unable to hammer out a long-term deal with the Devils, Elias agreed Monday to play for New Jersey's qualifying offer of $4.18 million this coming season, according to his agent. The Devils will now have to wait until Jan. 1 to re-open talks with their star sniper.

"He understands it's not a normal situation," said Todd Diamond, Elias' agent. "Everything being normal, we may have been discussing a contract that (would allow him to) play the best parts of his career in New Jersey. That's not the case. He's going to come in, get ready, start working hard."

Elias is still recovering from a bout with hepatitis A. Diamond said Elias will be flying back into town from the Czech Republic later this week and will resume work with New Jersey strength/conditioning coordinator Mike Vasalani.

"If he's ready in three weeks, great," Diamond said. "Six weeks, great. We want to make sure the guy is completely healthy, first and foremost. When he comes back, he's going to be a great shot of energy to the team."

Even without Elias in the fold, the Devils were hanging over the edge of the top end of the league's $39 million salary cap. While Elias is out, his salary isn't expected to count against the cap.

According to the NHL's web site, "Clubs at or near the upper limit that have players who incur a bona fide long-term injury will be entitled to replace up to the full value of the injured player's NHL salary (even if such salary would result in the club's team salary exceeding the upper limit) . . . Upon return of the injured player, the team must come into immediate compliance with the requirements of the payroll range."

Elias will turn 30 in April and could become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Diamond said he and Lamoriello have discussed re-opening negotiations in January and that their failure to get something done now won't have an impact on Elias' future in New Jersey.

"Absolutely not," Diamond said. "We have a completely open mind. Obviously he's had a great time so far in his career with the Devils. They've accomplished a lot and he's a big part of it. He loves living in New Jersey with all the good golf courses, the proximity to New York. He knows no other way except the Devil way."

Not counting Elias, the Devils currently have 21 players under contract for a total payroll of $40,224,794. They are waiting to learn whether Scott Stevens is returning for another season and have yet to name a backup goalie. Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello has until Oct. 1 to pare his payroll down to $39 million. Some of New Jersey's higher-priced forwards (Jeff Friesen, $2.28 million; Viktor Kozlov, $1.748 million) could become cap casualties.

I'm not getting the best feeling either. I does make sense now for both sides to not do a long-term deal until Patty's health issues are squared away. The Devils won't want to be tied down to a big money long-term deal if he never really comes back from the illness, and the agent has to know he wouldn't get the full value of a healthy Elias if they were to strike a deal now. Waiting is better for both sides.

Hopefully, when they say they will re-open negotiations as soon as they are allowed, they both mean it and really want to work out a long-term deal before the end of the season.

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"The Devils always find a way to win. That will continue." - Scott Stevens

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“They’re the ones that makes it happen,” Lemaire said. “It’s not us. It’s not me. It’s not the other guy. It’s not the guy before. It’s not the guy after. It’s them. And they have to take care of business.”
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"I guess I just miss my friend" (#28)

It's wonderful that Elias is back, but that's a whole lot of cap space.

Are the devils over the cap with the bonuses or without?

With. But most players don't qualify for any kind of bonuses. Only rookies, players over the age of 35 who sign 1-yr contracts, and any player who does not fall in those categories who missed the entire season before due to an injury or illness. Otherwise, all bonuses in existing contracts were wiped out by the new CBA. In order to calculate the value against the cap, the bonuses in contracts for those who are eligible are maxed-out (even if the players don't hit them during the year) and set up that way as a place-holder during the year.

So, for example, when certain reporters said that Lindros was negotiating a bonus-heavy contract with TO a few weeks ago, they didn't know what they were talking about, because, under the new CBA, he isn't eligible for any.

Hmm... if the rules says that you can be 10% over until oct 1 then the numbers we have been using to calculate where the devs are right now cannot be right.
I have a feeling that we are way closer to the cap than it seems.

I'm looking forward to oct 1 when we can leave all this behind us and just focus on hockey.

I don't get all the negativity about Elias staying, just because he didn't sign a long-term deal right this minute that automatically means he's moving on? Like someone pointed out it's really best for both sides to wait, and Elias hasn't given any indication that he's unhappy here (and in fact said he liked that the Devils were willing to talk contract with him under his condition) so I wouldn't automatically assume the worst.

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"The Devils have high standards, that's the difference. We have a standard to live up to every year, and a couple of teams in our area don't have the standards we do." - Pat Burns

The New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cups everywhere:-NHL record for most road wins in the playoffs - 10-1 in '95 and 10-2 in '00-NHL record for most home wins in the playoffs - 12-1 in '03

If I'm understanding this right... The Devils can be over the cap if they bring in a player to replace an injured player. If that's the case, Lou can say AlMo is in for Elias and since he signed under Elias's figure than it's OK. The problem comes when Elias is ready to come back and we need to fit both under the cap. I guess it would be bye-bye to a few players...

Yeah, that's a great attitude. Why the hell does everyone here think someone is gonna leave everytime they don't sign long-term? I know that is because of what's happened in the past, but Patty is loyal- a heck of a lot more loyal than some of the guys that have bolted the Devils before. Patty will stay. He loves it here.

I don't get all the negativity about Elias staying, just because he didn't sign a long-term deal right this minute that automatically means he's moving on? Like someone pointed out it's really best for both sides to wait, and Elias hasn't given any indication that he's unhappy here (and in fact said he liked that the Devils were willing to talk contract with him under his condition) so I wouldn't automatically assume the worst.

I know. It's disgusitng the negativity some people have. Annoying too.

^^ Exactly. Patty has openly stated he'd love to be a career Devil. His health is an issue right now so thats probably the #1 reason he didn't sign long term. If you read the entire article line by line his agent even says it doesn't mean he's gone next season.

I have more respect for Elias than Niedermayer.. I'm sure he wouldn't stiff us too.

Lou is going to make sure Elias completely recovers from the illness before signing him long term. That's why he qualified him so early to give that message to Elias that he wants him apart of his team for atleast this year but Lou can't predict the future (however he IS God so ya never know) so why waste all that money before you know he can or can't fully recover from his illness?

Elias was very pleased with Lou's early qualifying offer and him and Lou have never bashed heads. I'm not worried.

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Official Keeper of Little GNew Jersey Devils|3|New York Yankees|27|New York Giants|3|Penn State|4|"They are the loudest and most loyal students in the country. They call this place Happy Valley? That's an understatement tonight. This is definitely the best place on Earth. I have seen Paternoville, I have seen these students...there is nothing like this in the country."-ESPN College Gameday"We cannot rank Penn State University against other schoolsin the party school category because we feel it is unfair to rank professionals against amateurs."-Playboy Magazine"You're driving along with nothing and then it's likecow... cow... cow... 20,000 hot chicks!That's Penn State." -Jon Stewart

I'm with NJay. It feels like the agent is painting a Holik-Nieds type picture to get Lou to make a mid-year deal. From Elias quotes he seems to want to stay in NJ - he's not playing any games - the agent seems to be.

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A dog has the soul of a philosopher. --PlatoOutside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. --Groucho MarxIt's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. --Mark Twain

I have a really bad feeling that the Rangers are gonna go hard after Elias next summer. They left a lot of cap space to go after Thornton or lecavlier but those guys are now locked up long term. Sather loves to go after Devils, he overpayed for Holik and offered the max to niedermayer, I'm hoping Elias gets locked up long term in January so we don't have to go through another Niedermayer situation.

I've learned one thing from all these all desertions. If we know the player is good, Lou knows the player is good. Lou will do everything possible to keep that player. If the player wants to leave he'll leave. However, if the player decides to stay he knows he will be fairly compensated. All of Patrick's statements indicates he likes it here. If he stays, he stays.

Food for thought... with the devils having to trim their roster, I think you will have a lot of players that might be traded playing harder to stay. No one wants to pick up and move at the begining of the season.